Jews from Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Canada, Australia, Spain, Russia, Colombia and France were awarded Portuguese nationality in 2016 under new legislation to right a wrong going back over 500 years.
More than 400 descendants of Jews expelled from Portugal received nationality, led by 271 Turks, 81 Israelis and 48 Brazilians.
Socialist Party councillors in Vila Real de Santo António continue to accuse the council's executive of embarking on a water privatisation process that will end in tears, as well as significantly higher water charges for customers.
The Social Democrat-run council wants to grant local water and waste management to a private company but the council opposition claims this would see water rates rise “50 percent over the next seven years."
The government signed an offshore drilling licence on January 11th, allowing Galp-ENI consortium to drill for oil and gas in the Alentejo basin, while at the same time working on a range of renewable energy projects with a potential investment of over €800 million.
This is not the government’s spend, but suggested totals from the corporate sector which aims to add up to 750 megawatts in national energy capacity over the next few years.
The Minister of the Presidency has reiterated the government's preference that Novo Banco is sold off, rather than nationalised
Maria Manuel Leitão Marques said the sale of the bank, currently being worked on with US vulture funds and possibly one remaining Chinese financial group, should go ahead to guarantee "the minimum possible impact on the public debt."
Three and a half years after the arrest of the Deputy Mayor of Portimão, Luís Carito and the Portimão councillor Alcalador Jorge Campos on suspicion of corruption, the long-awaited list of charges has been published. Both Carito and Carito face a variety of charges, the maximum prison term for on charge, malfeasance in public office, is five years.
In a dispatch dated January 30th, the Public Prosecutor's Office states that a total of 21 defendants will stand trial for abuse of power and enriching themselves at the ratepayers’ expense.
For those readers that are fed up with Armação de Pêra flooding every time there is some serious rainfall, the council has a plan.
The Pluvial Drainage Plan will be presented to the public at a meeting on February 10th at the local ‘Os Armacenenses’ football club at 6pm.
One long-running murder investgation that may be close to a conclusion is that of Bruna Nunes, bludgeoned to death in 2014 at the age of 16.
Locals suspected her Romanian step-father, Mikhail Rasvan Oprea, who fled Portugal, but a wall of silence did not help police who seemed disinterested in tracking him down, until now.
Poor growing conditions in Spain have hit the British consumer as vegetable prices have shot up and rationing has been introduced by some UK supermarkets.
Tesco and Morrisons have both imposed limits on the amount of iceberg lettuce and broccoli which customers may purchase.
